Balance-weight for braces.



PATENTED APR. 12, 1904.

0. F. KBABLES iBALANGB WEIGHT FOR BRAGBS,

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 8. 19 03.

N0 MODEL.

Witnesses 1h or E v'k:v nouns wzyens no Puomumo" wa'skmmon. u, c.

.Lvo. 757,315.

UNITED STATES Patented April 12, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

BALANCE-WEIGHT FOR BRACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 757,315, dated April12, 1904:,

Application filed October 8, 1903- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. KEABLES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianola, in the county of Warren and State of Iowa, haveinvented a certain new and useful Balance-Weight for Braces, of whichthe following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to provide a device of simple, durable,and inexpensive construction designed to be used in the nature of anattachment to be applied to a brace of the kind ordinarily used inconnection with a bit for boring holes or forming spoke-tenons, &c.,said device when attached forming a balance-weight to aid in overcomingsudden resistance to the progress of the bit and also to aid in carryingthe brace over any portion of its movement where the operator cannotconveniently apply the power to the brace.

My invention consists in certain details in the construction,arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device wherebythe objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully setforth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompaanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 shows in perspective the complete deviceapplied to an ordinary brace as in practical use. Fig. 2 shows a planView of the attachment, and Fig. 3 shows a detail view of the arm forconnecting the balance-weight with the crank-arm of the brace.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I have used thereference-numeral 10 to indi cate the brace-handle, 11 the crank-arm ofthe brace, 12 the grip attached to the crank-arm, and 13 the bit-holderat the end of the brace. This brace is of ordinary construction, and

hence a detailed description is unnecessary. 4

holder 13 of braces of any ordinary size, so that the said bit-holdermay be passed through the slot 16 into the elongated opening 15. I haveprovided means for securely holding the bit-holder in this opening 15,as follows: The reference-numeral 17 indicates a thumb-screw Serial No.176,211. (No model.)

seated in the end of the arm 14 and having an.

enlarged head 18 in the interior of the opening 15, so that bymanipulating the thumbscrew 17 the head 18 will be made to engage thebit-holder and firmly clamp it against the arm 14 at the opposite end ofthe opening 15. Formed on or fixed to the outer end of the arm 14 is asegmental weight 19. Thesaid arm 14 and weight 19 may well be castcomplete in one piece.

I have provided means for preventing the weight and arm from rotatingrelative to the bit-holder as follows: The reference-numeral 20indicates a screw-threaded rod having a forked end 21. This rod isseated near the central portion of the arm 14, and the forked endprojects toward the crank-arm 11 of the brace, and the forked end 21thereof has the said crank-arm admitted in its fork. It is not necessaryto provide for any longitudinal :adjustment of the rod 20, because thearm 14 may be secured to the bit-holder 13 at a point where the fork 21will engage the crank-arm 11 of the brace. In this way the weight 19is'rnade to always stand on the same side of the bit-holder as thecrank-arm of the brace.

In practical use I have discovered that when using a brace of thisclass, especially when used in connection with a bit of large diameteror when used in connection with a spoketenoning bit, the rotation of thebrace is frequently stopped when the bit encounters a knot or a hardpiece of wood. This frequently occurs when the handle 12 on thecrank-arm is disposed at an angle where the operator cannot convenientlyexert suflicient pressure upon the handle 12 to turn the brace further,and my invention is particularly designed to overcome this objectionablefeature in the use of an ordinary brace. When the brace is to be usedfor work Where it is liable to stick and to require considerable powerto keep it in operation, I then place the attachment on the brace, asshown in Fig. 1, and turn the thumb-screw 17 until it firmly clampsagainst the bit-holder, while the crank of the brace rests in the forkedend of the rod 20. I then use the brace in the ordinary way, and themomentum of the weight is suflicient to carry the brace around with itthroughout those strikes a knot or other obstruction the momentum of theweight Will carry the brace around with it, and thus the operator willbe enabled to use the brace to better advantage in certain kinds ofwork.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States therefor, is

l. The combination with a brace, of a Weight detachably secured to aportion of the brace,

and a rod connected with the weight and also with the crank-arm of thebrace, for the purposes stated.

2. The combination with a brace, of an arm having a weight at one end,means at the other end of the arm for detachably securing it to thebit-holder of the brace, and means for connecting the arm with thecrank-arm of the brace.

3. The combination with a brace, of an arm having an opening at one endto receive the bit-holder of the brace, a thumb-screw seated in the armto engage the bit-holder and clamp it between the thumb-screw and theportion of the arm opposite from the thumb-screw, a weight on the otherend of the arm, and a rod seated in the arm and having a forked endoverlapping the adjacent portion of the crankarm of the brace,substantially as and for the purposes stated.

CHARLES F. KEABLES.

Witnesses: V

L.. B. PRITCHARD, F. P. HENDERSON.

